Code will target stable,
barn, fence regulations
MANALAPAN — Township officials have instructed the municipal attorney to prepare an ordinance revising regulations pertaining to barns, stables and fences.
In early July, Township Planner Richard Cramer appeared before the Township Committee to discuss specifics of the proposal. Regulations he discussed that evening were subsequently revised after he met with a representative of Manalapan’s farming community.
On July 25, Cramer returned to the municipal building to explain the revisions to members of the governing body.
In his initial appearance before the committee, Cramer noted that the current regulations guiding the installation of fences requires that no fence be placed within 25 feet of a street and that no fence located in a front yard may exceed a height of 3 feet. Additionally, regulations state that on farms where enclosures are required for horses and other livestock, a higher fence is needed and to recognize those needs the fence regulation is being modified to permit a fence height of 4.5 feet within the front yard of farms.
During his July 25 appearance, Cramer said the 4.5-foot height would be revised to follow guidelines set by the equine industry that call for 5-foot-tall fences to enclose mares and 6-foot-tall fences to enclose stallions. The 5-foot fences would be allowed along the street line and the 6-foot fences would be allowed on property when set back specified distances from the street. In addition, the fencing will have to be of the "open" variety, pertaining to the space between the rails that make up the structure, he said.
It also is noted in the purpose of the regulations that stables and barns may be constructed to the maximum height allowed for the principal building in the applicable zone district. As initially proposed the height of barns and stables would not have been permitted to exceed the height of the principal building in a certain zone.
Cramer said this will be revised to allow barns and stables to be constructed at 35 feet high or to the maximum height allowed in a zoning district (50 feet in certain cases).
Committeeman Stuart Moskovitz noted that the Right to Farm Act might render the entire matter moot since the act allows no conditions to be set on the height of a barn if agricultural purposes require a higher barn.
The initial proposal would have banned barns from being constructed in the front yard of a property. On July 25, Cramer said this detail had been revised to allow a barn in a front yard as long as it meets the minimum front yard setback of the zoning district.
At the July 11 meeting when Cramer initially discussed the barn, stable and fence requirements, Coral Silsbe, the owner of the Highbridge Horse Farm, told committee members the standard height for a fence is 5 feet.
Moskovitz said, "You have to wonder whether any farmers were consulted before this was written. The whole point of this zoning ordinance was to provide relief to encourage farming in Manalapan. Stallions need 5 feet. I don’t think there’s anybody who raises horses who wouldn’t know that."
Moskovitz continued, "You’re talking about 50 feet from a lot line. You’re talking about barns not being located in a front yard. I want to meet the farmer who thinks that language involving barns use the words front yard area. What in the world is a front yard area of a farm? We shouldn’t be looking at any ordinance that hasn’t had the input of the farmers in this community."
Mayor Mary Cozzolino said, "I don’t think anybody wants this drafted the way it is right now without hearing from the people who would be affected, as well as from our planner."
On July 25, Cramer told the committee members he had discussed the issues with the people who will be affected by the regulations. He said Silsbe represented the farmers’ concerns to him and that led to the revisions he presented to the committee relative to the barns, stables and fences.
Committee members asked Township Attorney Matthew Giacobbe to prepare an ordinance incorporating the standards detailed by Cramer and to have it ready for introduction at an upcoming meeting.
News Transcript Managing Editor Mark Rosman contributed to this story.

